Retrofit OEM M3 side mirrors doityourself

[Sockethead]

Yep I hated every second of this mod. The end result looks great though.

As an alternative to Lexan or a cut out from a plastic box, you can use aluminum sheet. It's much easier to work with.
Here's my thread on the mirror installation... might be a few tips there that will help you too. On page 3 you can see the aluminum base I made.
http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...sion-installed

[cakM3]

That's why most people won't do this mod.


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[Cadeez]

Yes there is grinding and drilling involved to get the mirrors to fit. The angle/rake of the windshield doors, etc is different between the coup and sedan. You are making it fit where it wasn't supposed to fit...

Also, I'd reinforce the ribbon cable with clear packing tape from the connectors to the folds this will help it from tearing. the ribbon cable is really thin. I tore one of mine just trying to unplug the connector

I'm planning to start work on this mod in the coming weeks, but I'm still having a little trouble getting my arms completely around this DIY. I've looked at TONS of DIY's, but no one has a complete one from beginning to end, as far as I can find. Few questions below, and maybe these are super dumb questions, but to be completely honest I can't figure out why all the modification is necessary. Can someone close the loop for me please?

- Why is it necessary to make a small adapter out of plastic/aluminum to mount the M3 mirror motor, inside the M3 housing it's already in?
- Why do I need to remove the ribbon cable connectors? Does anyone have pics of this? This is the part that is most confusing. And what is meant by "reinforce the ribbon at the connector with some tape"? Reinforce it where/why?
- Are we swapping guts/parts between the OEM ZHP mirrors and the new M3 mirrors?
- After modifying (grinding down the edges) of the mirror baseplate, will it need to be repainted, or is it on the backside?

[nextelbuddy]

I'm planning to start work on this mod in the coming weeks, but I'm still having a little trouble getting my arms completely around this DIY. I've looked at TONS of DIY's, but no one has a complete one from beginning to end, as far as I can find. Few questions below, and maybe these are super dumb questions, but to be completely honest I can't figure out why all the modification is necessary. Can someone close the loop for me please?

- Why is it necessary to make a small adapter out of plastic/aluminum to mount the M3 mirror motor, inside the M3 housing it's already in?
- Why do I need to remove the ribbon cable connectors? Does anyone have pics of this? This is the part that is most confusing. And what is meant by "reinforce the ribbon at the connector with some tape"? Reinforce it where/why?
- Are we swapping guts/parts between the OEM ZHP mirrors and the new M3 mirrors?
- After modifying (grinding down the edges) of the mirror baseplate, will it need to be repainted, or is it on the backside?

totally understand the questions, its pretty daunting.


for COUPES its bolt on and go

for SEDANS not even close.

our cars are face lift cars so we have RIBBON CABLE motors for the mirror motors. the DRIVER SIDE mirror motor IS the memory module and handles the memory and motor functions for DRIVER and PASSENGER side mirrors. This is why if yuor driver side mirror is damaged or dies, your passenger side motor also dies unti you repair or replace the driver side motor.

the M3 mirror motors are NOT ribbon. they have 6/12 pin connectors that plug into separate memory modules located in the doors. Also E46 coupes have this same plugs so they also are PnP.


Currently there is no way to get m3 mirror motors to work with our cars ZKE/GM5 central body module. our car GM5 module looks specifically for the driver side ribbon motor for everything mirror function wise.

so because we want m3 mirrors. we basically just want the housings but we want to keep our original mirror ribbon motors. its the only way to retain motor functionality. if you dont care about motor functionality then you can just to the base plate mod and be done and leave the m3 mirrors intact and manually adjust the mirrors by hand.


the Sedan ribbon cable motors will NOT fit onto the M3 mirror housing inner skeleton frame thus why you have to fabricate your own circular base plate so that our motors will have something to mount onto inside the mirror.



this retrofit is 2 parts..

- Baseplate modification to physically mount the mirror to our doors.
- mirror motor retrofit of sedan ribbon motors into the M3 housings.


im pretty sure I posted pictures and so did Cake of the ribbon motors out of the housings, go back and take a look to see.

your car is silver, the metal material UNDER the paint is also silver so you have almost no worries about having to get your base plates repainted. just mark the areas per the Rogue PDF and then cut the 3mm off that you end up taping off, test fit and grind more material away as needed. once you have the old mirror off, you can hold the NEW base plate up to the sedan door and see what im talking about.

[Cadeez]

totally understand the questions, its pretty daunting.


for COUPES its bolt on and go

for SEDANS not even close.

our cars are face lift cars so we have RIBBON CABLE motors for the mirror motors. the DRIVER SIDE mirror motor IS the memory module and handles the memory and motor functions for DRIVER and PASSENGER side mirrors. This is why if yuor driver side mirror is damaged or dies, your passenger side motor also dies unti you repair or replace the driver side motor.

the M3 mirror motors are NOT ribbon. they have 6/12 pin connectors that plug into separate memory modules located in the doors. Also E46 coupes have this same plugs so they also are PnP.


Currently there is no way to get m3 mirror motors to work with our cars ZKE/GM5 central body module. our car GM5 module looks specifically for the driver side ribbon motor for everything mirror function wise.

so because we want m3 mirrors. we basically just want the housings but we want to keep our original mirror ribbon motors. its the only way to retain motor functionality. if you dont care about motor functionality then you can just to the base plate mod and be done and leave the m3 mirrors intact and manually adjust the mirrors by hand.


the Sedan ribbon cable motors will NOT fit onto the M3 mirror housing inner skeleton frame thus why you have to fabricate your own circular base plate so that our motors will have something to mount onto inside the mirror.



this retrofit is 2 parts..

- Baseplate modification to physically mount the mirror to our doors.
- mirror motor retrofit of sedan ribbon motors into the M3 housings.


im pretty sure I posted pictures and so did Cake of the ribbon motors out of the housings, go back and take a look to see.

your car is silver, the metal material UNDER the paint is also silver so you have almost no worries about having to get your base plates repainted. just mark the areas per the Rogue PDF and then cut the 3mm off that you end up taping off, test fit and grind more material away as needed. once you have the old mirror off, you can hold the NEW base plate up to the sedan door and see what im talking about.

That all makes perfect sense now, thank you so much for the explanation!! I can now visualize all of the DIY bits I've seen and have it make sense. One more question, I'm currently driving an '01 Sport, not a ZHP. However I'm currently on the hunt for a ZHP, and I bought these mirrors with the idea of doing the install on the new ZHP once acquired. However, since my current car is pre-facelift, will these mirrors plug n play after I do the RE baseplate mod? Do pre-facelift E46 sedans have the same 6/12 pin connectors as coupes & M3's?

[SWO Daddy]

Great thread. Of all the M3 mirror DIYs, I think this is the best. Intend on attempting this soon. Already have the mirrors from when I debated on the DIY when I had an 02 330. Coincidence that the ZHP I bought last month was also jet black like the mirrors. Thx OP for posting.

[cakM3]

Great thread. Of all the M3 mirror DIYs, I think this is the best. Intend on attempting this soon. Already have the mirrors from when I debated on the DIY when I had an 02 330. Coincidence that the ZHP I bought last month was also jet black like the mirrors. Thx OP for posting.

You're welcome! This is the reason I started this thread so that others have the opportunity to do this


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[Cadeez]

I picked up these M3 mirrors from a guy on the ZHP fb page, was planning to tackle that daunting DIY when I get time. Couple things though, does anyone know if when I install these, will the mirrors still have the OEM functions of my current ZHP mirrors? Meaning tilt down in reverse and defrost?

[Sockethead]

As long as you use the motors from you original mirrors, you will have all functions.

[Cadeez]

Perfecto, that's what I was hoping for.